This disclosure relates generally to manufacturing substrates and more specifically to initiating a cleave of a substrate by using a varying ion implant dose.
A typical process for cleaving a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer involves implanting the substrate with a uniform dose of ions and thermally treating the implanted substrate with a thermal treatment. The thermal treatment of the implanted substrate causes a cleaving action to occur in a manner that is completely random and uncontrollable and may even occur at the substrate on multiple fronts. As a result, a film of material or multiple films of material may separate from the substrate at a random location and propagate in a random direction. This cleave process will produce undesirable results due to the random nature of the cleaving action. These undesirable results include potential problems such as an excessively rough surface finish on the surface of the material cleaved from the substrate due to non-uniformities that arise from the cleave and the potential for the cleaved material to have material properties that are substantially degraded.